FOREST, Va. – Entering year-two under Head Coach Jesse DeLoof and with reinforcements incoming to surround reigning league scoring champion, Braylen Salters (Cleveland, Ohio), the Guilford College men's basketball team was picked seventh in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Preseason Coaches' Poll for the 2026-27 season, as announced by the conference offices on Wednesday.

"This group has a nice blend of returners, first year guys and transfers, and it has been great watching them improve and become a team throughout the preseason," said the Quakers second-year bench boss, DeLoof. "We need to continue to make strides, but it has been encouraging that everyone has leaned into the one-day-at-a-time approach. We have the potential to be a dynamic scoring team with legitimate depth, but our success will be determined by our defense and rebounding. In a league like the ODAC we will need to turn the page quickly. Every conference win counts the same and we need to improve after wins and losses."

Guilford's ODAC title defense was a winding road filled with highs and lows culminating in a 13-13 overall finish as they adapted to the fast-paced Crutchfield System that DeLoof prefers to deploy. They did enough to crack the conference field, though, making it as the eighth seed before getting eliminated by top-seed Randolph-Macon College in the opening round. Now, after losing four of their five starters for the second-straight offseason, GC has holes to plug even if they are more-familiar with the pressing style of play.

It would be convenient to simply use the platitude that this team will go where All-ODAC Second Team guard Braylen Salters will take them, but there may be some basis for that feel. For starters, while there is something to be said about his high volume and moderate efficiency, no one becomes a top-15 scorer in the country by accident. The first underclassman to lead the conference in scoring since 2010-11, Salters took the league by storm, setting the ODAC record for free throw makes in a season with 204 on his way to averaging 23.8 points per game, good for the highest-scoring season that the ODAC has seen since 2013-14. So nominal improvements on his .392 field goal percentage and .317 three-point percentage should see him improve on his standing among the nation's top scorers. Beyond him, there is a lot for Guilford to be excited about with their rising sophomore class. Tripp McMillen (Dobson, N.C.) was so good in the preseason that he started for GC against the eventual national champions, UMW in their season-opener before missing time, and while it took him a couple weeks to get his feet under him, he finished last season strong and rode that into a great offseason. Alongside him, Reynolds Escher (Atlanta, Ga.) got off to a tremendous start to his collegiate career, and while he slumped in the second half, he still finished netting 8.8 points per game with a team-leading .554 field goal percentage (Min. 125 attempts) while being an active rebounder. Them along with Tej Efemini (Marietta, Ga.) and Landon Francis (Duke Center, Pa.), who are among the most-improved players on the team, give DeLoof and his staff plenty to dream on. Then add in Christian Bacon (Lithia Springs, Ga.), who is a tremendous floor general, plus fourth-year Quakers, Enzo Geremski (Winston-Salem, N.C.) and Magnus Swinger (Concord, N.C.) and it formulates a solid supporting group of returners.

The big root of the optimism surrounding this Guilford team is the external adds. Salters was able to get high school teammate, Tyson Garner (Cleveland, Ohio) to join him in the Gate City after he netted 17.3 points per game with good efficiency in the JuCo circuit last year. The Quakers were also able to pluck junior guard Oliver Jones (Middletown, Del.) from league favorite, Randolph-Macon College just two years removed from a very promising freshman season with the Yellow Jackets. Cooper Kent (Galion, Ohio) is a knockdown shooter with a high-level of understanding in the Crutchfield System after spending two years in the same playing style with Division-II power, West Liberty University, including his first year under new top assistant coach Bryce Butler. Finally, fellow D-II transfer Davionta Moses (Winston-Salem, N.C.) is a stretch-five from Newberry College and brings in much-needed size to the GC frontcourt. On top of that, this year's freshman recruits include high-energy forward, Ryder Randolph (Fuquay-Varina, N.C.), Georgia All-Region guard Nate Robinson (Jeffersonville, Ind.), who hails from the same high school as Efemini, and long, polished wing Andrew Schall (Apex, N.C.), who finished last season as one of the top shooters in North Carolina. All this adds up to a group that despite the assumption that GC is heavily reliant on Salters, instead, has DeLoof believing that they are deeper and more-talented than a season-ago, even if it is a group that needs cohesion entering the new year.

Guilford battles the top of the USA South to open the new year, traveling to play the reigning regular season champions, Pfeiffer University on Saturday, November 7 at 7:00 PM before hosting the defending tournament champions, North Carolina Wesleyan University for their home opener at the same time on Wednesday, November 11. Skipping a game, GC's annual First Horizon Coliseum clash with Greensboro College will be played on Wednesday, November 18 at 7:30 PM. Following a road game with national runners-up, Emory University, and Thanksgiving Break, the Quakers open ODAC play by hosting Hampden-Sydney College on Wednesday, November 2 for a 7:00 PM tipoff.
 

Rk.	School (First-Place Votes)	Pts.
1.	Randolph-Macon College (7)	117 pts.
2.	Roanoke College (5)	115 pts.
3.	Hampden-Sydney College	99 pts.
4.	Batten University	84 pts.
5.	Washington & Lee University	82 pts.
6.	University of Lynchburg	66 pts.
7.	Guilford College	62 pts.
8.	Averett University	56 pts.
9.	Shenandoah University	40 pts.
10.	Eastern Mennonite University	29 pts.
11.	Bridgewater College	27 pts.
12.	Randolph College	15 pts.

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